Plan Adds State Fee To Landfills

June 17, 1986|By William Presecky.

The two Du Page County landfills will be charging dumpers an extra $2 million a year if the legislature approves a plan by Gov. James Thompson to reduce the state`s dependence on garbage dumps and to promote development of alternative waste disposal methods.

The plan, introduced by Thompson last week, calls for the state to raise $10 million through garbage dumping fees, increases that almost certainly will be tacked onto pick-up fees charged to customers.

The funds generated by the surcharge are to be used for grants for reasearch and development in recycling and other alternative disposal techniques as well as expansion of the state`s industrial material exchange service.

Thompson wants to establish a Solid Waste Management Fund from fees charged by the state Environmental Protection Agency at every landfill in Illinois for 30 months beginning Jan. 1.

Landfills like the two in Du Page County are to be charged $25,000 for the first 150,000 cubic yards of garbage they bury in a year and 45 cents for every additional cubic yard, or 95 cents for every additional ton, of garbage after that.

Based on figures supplied by Richard Utt, superintendent of government affairs for the Du Page County Forest Preserve District, the proposed EPA surcharge would amount to about $2.5 million at the district-owned landfills near Woodridge and Hanover Park. Those landfills, located in the Greene Valley and Mallard Lake preserves, together accept an estimated 5.5 million cubic yards of garbage a year. A majority of that garbage comes from outside Du Page County, accordng to Utt.

The legislation to create and fund the solid waste program is pending in Springfield.